Danzaiver: The Stalking Horse
by Chuckie Anelli
Summary: Upon the discovery of a stable wormhole, Danzaiver's nemesis, Galaclava, sets a trap for her hated foe, sending him into the Star Wars universe and forcing him to run a deadly gauntlet. Will the power of the Supreme Ruler be enough to prevail? Since there's no Evil Zone stories, let alone crossovers, I figured i'd do one. :) Evil Zone/Star Wars Crossover
1. Prologue 1

**Prologue 1**

Galaclava sat on her throne, miserable. Her chin rested on her clenched fist as her mind churned with furious thought. She looked at her minions, the followers of the crime syndicate, Crios of whom she was the leader with disgust. "_You idiots!" _She shrieked suddenly, startling the sycophants; one of them very nearly died from fright. Their reaction made the crime lord smile.

The source of her consternation was as usual, her nemesis, the Exceptional Inspector, Danzaiver. Over the years, he has thwarted her many plots successfully. Try as she might, she could never liquidate the determined hero; he had eliminated many of her minions she had sent to destroy him over the years. The very thought of him was enough to make her blood boil and she slammed her fist into the armrest of her throne.

Her eyes turned toward the ground in deep thought as she wracked her brain for some way, any way to put her foe into the ground. Again her eyes fell on her minions and it dredged up their many failures in her mind. The most recent one that came to mind was their attempt to destroy Danzaiver by duplicating his most powerful and trademark weapon, the Tactical Frame and using it against him. She would've applauded the effort if didn't know in her guts that it would've ended like every other plot. Danzaiver was just too skilled, too cunning and too determined to be beaten by the mere application of a cheap knock off Tactical Frame.

Despair washed over her as she drew yet another blank. _Isn't there some way to rid the galaxy of Danzaiver? _She thought, her mind wailing. She shook her head which made her mane full of snow white hair shake. She was strikingly beautiful with high cheekbones and a pointed nose. Her eyes were always narrowed in an expression of evil.

"Mistress Galaclava, something on the main viewer that you should see!" One of her black robed henchmen said as he rushed into her throne room. She didn't seem to react to him so she was either ignoring him or didn't hear him. He knew better than to raise his voice, lest she vaporize him right on the spot; he had served Crios long enough to know when his leader was in a foul mood which was ninety-eight percent of the time . He repeated himself again but this time in lower tone of voice.

"Yes I heard you, bootlicker. What is so important that you must disturb me out of my musings?"

"O-our probes have revealed something interesting going on inside of another galaxy, mistress!" He replied with a tremor in his voice. He hoped that the information was good enough for his life to be spared. Then again, she might as well as vaporized him anyway out of boredom and frustration.

Fortunately for him, a well-defined eyebrow raised slightly. "Oh? Did you say another galaxy? And define the word 'interesting' will you?"

"I cannot your awesomeness, for I am too stupid to interpret such matters. I only know that it is extremely interesting. Your wisdom is the only thing to make sense of it."

At first Galaclava wavered between waving the minion away or lashing out with a disintegrator beam from one of her elegant fingers, turning him into dust. But since she had nothing better to do she decided to investigate what got her sycophant so excited. If anything else, maybe it was a good show she could watch. "Very well, take me to the viewing room." She followed the hired hand to the main viewing room of her ship, sighing in boredom as she walked. She wasn't expecting much at all.

What she saw on the viewer made her change her mind. Her jaw fell open in surprise and _that _was something that almost never happened. The viewer was split into twenty different screens and each screen had a different image on it. The different images varied from sights of small fighter ships having epic dogfights with each other, starships engaging each other in fierce combat with gigantic laser weapons to individuals clad in robes, wielding strange powers and trying to kill each other with energy swords.

"This... this is going on right now?" She said, still staring at the screen.

"Yes Oh Great One. We sent these probes to the wormhole in Sector Sigma Six. The sensors said that it was a stable wormhole so we decided to shoot multiple probes through it to see what was inside it, test its stability and..."

"Spare me the technical details!" Galaclava snapped. The minion sufficiently cowed, obeyed and so did everybody else the room. "Is this in another part of the galaxy?"

"Un...undetermined, Mistress. The instruments become uncertain due to the phenomena inside the wormhole; physics become all bent and twisted. It is amazing that we...we could get any kind of signal whatsoever. This could be in another dimension, another galaxy or even another _time. _Or, _all _of the above. All we truly know that it is not in _this _galaxy."

Galaclava continued to stare at the screen when she said, "Leave me." Her henchmen obeyed and left her alone in the viewing room. She watched the events, taking into account everything that she saw. She could determine right away that though this place was new and possibly could be plundered, it was not _ripe _for plunder due to the many different factions and powers competing against each other. She estimated they were either equal or greater in strength to her and her organization.

What really piqued her interest were the individuals clad in brown robes. They were apparently called "Jedi" and served to keep the peace in galaxy, just like her hated foe Danzaiver. As she watched them and all of the galactic powers interact with each other, Danzaiver kept floating through her brain like a maddening gnat that would not go away. Suddenly that annoyance turned into inspiration. A diabolical plan began to form in her demented mind. Maniacal laughter burst from her mouth and filled the viewing room and echoed down the hallways of her lair.


	2. Prologue 2

**Prologue 2**

Obi Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker stood in the turbo-lift side by side as they waited to reach the floor of the main council chambers. They could not contrast anymore if the hidden hand of fate tried its hardest. The older of the two Jedi, Obi Wan, had light-brown hair was of medium build and wore an neatly trimmed beard. His pristine brown robes fluttered as he shifted nervously. Despite his bright appearance, his eyes glittered with concern as he watched the indicator on the turbo-lift light up with each passing floor.

The man standing next to him on the other hand, Anakin, was clad in black robes and wore his dark brown hair loosely near his shoulders. Despite his grim appearance, he wore a playful smile on his lips as he turned to his master and friend. "Master, why are you so concerned? This isn't like you."

Shaking his head Obi Wan said, "I sense a great tremor in the Force my friend. Quite frankly, its got me concerned." He paused and turned to look at Anakin. "You're right, normally I am more composed; we've face many a danger in the past but there's something about this particular feeling that has me quite spooked."

"Yes, I've sensed that same tremor too, but I wouldn't worry about it." Anakin replied in a reassuring tone. "Whatever it is, I'm sure we can handle it, like we always have.

"Careful Anakin, that arrogance will be the end of you." The remark made Anakin flinch slightly. It wasn't lost on Obi Wan that the roles in this conversation were reversed. Usually it was Obi Wan telling his former apprentice to try not to be so apprehensive. He sighed than laughed. "Maybe you're right, maybe I'm just becoming an old worry-wart in my old age."

"Well you're not _that _old, Master. Though I thought I did hear the creak of bone when you turned towards me..."

Shooting him a look of mock annoyance, Anakin laughed heartily and Obi Wan joined in. "That's a lot truer than I'd like to think about unfortunately. Still, it should be _I _who practices wisdom and wait to see what the council has to say. It looks like the student has taught the master a lesson." He chucked Anakin on the shoulder an instant before the turbolift doors opened up.

The two Jedi strode across the vast expanse of the council chambers before coming to a stop in the middle of the room. Despite the many times they have been in that very room, the enormity of its scope and purpose never failed to make either of them solemn. They bowed in unison at the figures seated at the rear of the room on various chairs. Despite the enormity of the room, the chairs were designed to be comfortable, not to display an image of imposing power like a throne would.

Twelve different looking people of various species sat upon the chairs. In the middle, a small green humanoid with large ears that protruded from either side of its head and had large but wise looking eyes, nodded at the two individuals in the center of the room. They nodded in response.

"Greetings Master Yoda," Obi Wan said, to the green alien and then, "Masters" to the rest of the council who also nodded toward them. "How may we serve the Council today?"

"Masters Kenobi and Skywalker, please direct your attention to the holo-vid and you'll see why you were summoned here." Said the man known as Mace Windu, who sat adjacent to Yoda, with a wave of his hand. He was dark skinned human with a bald head and stern face. Like the rest of the council, he projected an air of power and wisdom.

Dimming lights heralded the activation of the holo-vid, a three dimensional imaging device that that sprung up in the middle of the chambers. The images showed a red, armored clad figure wielding an energy sword like the lightsabers the Jedi used but different in its design. The armored man was shown mowing down troopers of the Republic which the Jedi served, with ease.

"Who is this? Some sort of mercenary?" Anakin said, studying the images intently.

"Unknown this assailant is." Yoda replied with his strange syntax. "Killed multiple clone troopers and stolen millions of credits from the Coruscant Treasury he has."

Shaking his head, Obi Wan struggled to try to place an identity on the figure in the images but failed. "He's nothing live I've never seen before. Even his weapons are new to me. He moves with great skill and power however. Maybe he's some sort of droid?"

"It's possible, Master Kenobi. The Council has considered that but at the same time, a droid doesn't act with this kind of...murderous glee." Mace replied. Not only that, it doesn't seem likely that a droid no matter how sophisticated, could do...this."

Mace Windu motioned to another image of a dead, blue skinned being clad in the familiar brown robes of the Jedi. In the center of the Jedi's chest was a deep, cauterized gash.

"No, Master Pedia!" Anakin blurted out in shock. "That...thing killed Master Pedia?" To Anakin, Master Windu was right, droids maybe very advanced but it would take someone extremely powerful and skilled to kill Master Pod Pedia, in single combat. Pedia was an excellent swordsman and extremely strong in the Force. Try as he might, Anakin just couldn't buy the droid theory.

Simultaneously, the lights came back on and the holograph shut off. The room was silent as the occupants in it mourned the death of their comrade and tried to make sense of it. After a few moments, the Council returned to business.

"I think its obvious why we've summoned you. We want you to find this individual and bring him to stand trial for the various crimes he has committed. Anybody powerful and skilled enough to kill a Jedi Master is much too dangerous to have running around the galaxy." Mace Windu said. "We will send you all the files we have about Master Pedia's...murder" Mace said with barely controlled disgust. "And any support you may need."

"Know that you are already extremely with the Clone Wars you are, but of utmost importance this is." Yoda said.

Both Anakin and Obi Wan nodded in agreement as well as the rest of the council. "Yes Master, it is as you've said, anybody with the ability to kill a Jedi Master is much too dangerous. If he's an ally of our droid enemies or the Sith, that spells danger." Obi Wan said.

"Or he could be a yet, undetermined third party. The last thing we need right now is _yet another _entrant into this conflict." Master Windu replied. "We have kept murderer of Master Pedia a secret. There was nothing we could do to prevent the news of his death from becoming public knowledge but we can control the intimate details. The last thing the Separatists need is intelligence on a member of our order who's fallen. If this person isn't working for them, why tip the 'Seps' off?"

Again the two Jedi in the center of the room nodded in agreement. "Whatever or _whoever _this is, we shall seek him out and stop him. And you don't need to say it masters, we will exercise the utmost caution." Anakin replied.

"Only a name we have, given freely the assailant did give. Danzaiver the name is." Yoda said, his eyes narrowing grimly. "May the Force be with you." Yoda said. Anakin and Obi Wan nodded and exited the chambers.


	3. Prologue 3

**Prologue 3**

The armored individual strode into grand, opulent room with a confidence that spoke of years of hard living and the lack of fear of death. His armor was pure black in color; on his hips he wore two huge blasters in holsters. Over his right shoulder was a large, rifle shaped carbine assault blaster, over his left was a vibroblade with an engraved pommel. Both weapons bounced against his back as he walked but he didn't notice; he carried the extra weight of his weapons with no difficulty at all as if he were born with them.

Carrying his helmet in the crook of his right arm, a wicked, demonic looking thing, his blonde hair which looked like a sheet of gold, gleamed under the dim lighting. His eyes were in stark contrast to his hair which were obsidian black and were as hard as the aforementioned stone. Across his right eye was a nasty looking scar which he wore with pride, a reminder of one of his most dangerous missions. He opened the huge stone doors with a minor amount of effort; the doors scraped along the ground with a loud creaking sound. Actually admiring the grating noise, he walked into the dark chambers beyond.

Despite all of his swagger and confidence, even he couldn't shake the feeling of cold and dread that permeated this chamber. He found that he did not like it one, single bit though he was accustomed to it. After all, as a member of the Crimson Nova Bounty Hunting Guild, a group of bounty hunters that specialized in hunting Jedi, Dalos Tervain regarded his sensitivity to the Force, even the Dark Side as an advantage in his line of work.

Seated in front of him and as Dalos suspected, the source of the powerful aura of the Dark Side was a gray haired man who sat in the chair with a regal air about him that was impossible to ignore. His impeccably trimmed beard and haircut was almost the physical manifestation of his stature; his immaculate dark clothes complete with matching cape with the royal seal of the House of Dooku were displayed almost arrogantly.

"Ah, you've finally arrived. I'm so glad you could make it" Count Dooku said with a deep baritone voice; he didn't bother to rise, Dalos noted.

"Save the pleasantries, Dooku and let's get down to business. Why am I here?" the bounty hunter replied with a raspy voice.

Count Dooku chuckled; Dalos could not help but feel very unnerved when he heard that bass laughter rumble throughout the room. He wondered if Dooku was using the Force to try to intimidate him. _If he is, it won't work _He thought to himself, shrugging off the bad vibes.

"Straight to business then? I respect that immensely." He gestured to a holo-vid which showed a red-armored clad figure cutting through Separatist droid soldiers and generals.

The fluidity of movement and interesting weapons was what struck Dalos as interesting. But what really got his attention was the image of the armored warrior slaughtering General Bacom, a known Separatist leader and fierce warrior with the greatest of ease.

"This individual has destroyed two of our generals in as many weeks. He has also looted the Banking Guild's credits to the sum of over three million." Dooku said as he switched the holo off. "We know he is not Jedi because his methods are too ruthless, but his skill and use of weapons, particularly that sword of his..."

Dalos shook his head, Dooku had to say no more. Dalos could also see that the figure was no Jedi, but he _was _powerful. Whether that was due to the armor or because he was attuned to the Force, couldn't be determined. But for somebody to do the kind of damage that Dooku was suggesting, the Force was a strong bet in terms of power source. "He's nobody I recognize. The weapons and armor are new to me too. Let me guess, you want me to hunt down and kill this guy?" He stroked his chin as a mischievous glint shone in his eye. "I'll do it for no less than...a half-million credits."

Again Dooku chuckled. "You ask for much Mr. Tervain. Don't you think that sum is a little...steep?"

"Nah, not at all." Dalos replied with a sadistic grin full of white, sharp teeth. "You're asking me to hunt down and kill a guy who cut through two of your generals and many of your forces, who's using unknown technology as far as _I _can see at least and we have no idea of who or _what _he is? Yeah I'm a bounty hunter and I love a challenge but I also believe in getting paid what the job's worth.

"I also believe in not throwing my life away and lack of information is as good as a death sentence in this business. If I'm going to risk my life against this guy, I'm not doing it for no less than a half-million. Besides there's about a thousand other bounty hunters you could've hired for this job but you asked for me specifically. You obviously did it because you're afraid this guy has knowledge of the Force, that already makes him not easy to kill. A half-million, Take it or leave it."

In approval, Dooku smiled and nodded. "You're as shrewd a negotiator as I've heard, Mr. Tervain. The Crimson Nova Guild is lucky to have an asset such as you working for them. Very well, a half-million it is. There is another bit of information that you might find useful."

"Oh? And what is it?"

"For one thing, his name. A witness to the last attack just before he died, heard the assailant say his name. It was 'Danzaiver.' Also, he has attacked the Hutts as well so therefore there is no doubt that they're also going to be sending their own assassins as well. You may be in for some competition." Dooku said with a smirk.

"There _is _no competition when it comes to me Dooku. You just have that money ready when I return."

When Dalos left the room, Dooku smiled and gestured for the figure sitting in the shadows behind his throne to emerge. "I want to leave nothing to chance my young apprentice. Dalos Tervain is indeed skilled but there is more to this 'Danzaiver' than meets the eye. If Dalos fails, destroy the interloper. He has caused too much damage to the master's operations."

"It will be done my master." the Dark Jedi, Kelgus, said."


	4. Preview of next week's episode!

**Prologue 4**

Aboard the space carrier, Seingreed, Sho Mikagami sat sipping coffee with his two crew mates, the twins Yuri and Ruri. The steaming cup of java in his hands was the physical manifestation of a sigh of relief after being hurled to the world of I-Praseru. There, he battled many foes and finally defeated Ihadurca, the villainous sorceress who enslaved the planet who incidentally also had kidnapped Yuri. While the girls caught up with each other, Sho dreamed about getting back to Earth so he could pursue his first love, playing video games.

He could feel a pair of eyes glancing in his direction, he looked over his shoulder to see Ruri suddenly look away and back at her sister. During his adventure, she revealed her true feelings for him; she tried to physically stop him from risking his life any further, volunteering to go in his stead. It was a close contest but in the end he was triumphant and went on to save the day, to both of their reliefs.

A slight smile crossed his lips at the memory though he wasn't exactly sure how he was feeling these days. Because he had feelings for her sister, he sensed this was the beginnings of a love triangle that would prove way more dangerous than any villain he had ever fought. Sighing, he sipped his coffee, savoring the taste; Yuri in his opinion, had always made the best coffee.

Harsh beeping from the control panel signaled the end of their peaceful interlude. The beeping belonged to the master alarm on the scanner which usually indicated trouble somewhere. Ruri sat down her coffee cup so hard that the liquid threatened to splash everywhere. "Ugh, _always _when we're trying to have some peace and quiet!" She griped as she went over to her station to activate the scanner. Sho found that he couldn't fault her logic.

"What is it Ruri?" He asked, getting up from his command chair and setting his cup down with grace completely opposite from Ruri's. As he stood behind her and looked at her light green hair, he noticed that it smelled like hyacinth. _Probably the new shampoo of the week she's using _he thought to himself.

Her features clouded over in a quizzical expression, the same expression she always had whenever she was deep in thought. "This is strange, an AGDS (All Galactic Defense System) emergency beacon is being broadcast not far from here."

"What's so strange about that? Maybe somebody needs help?" Yuri replied.

"Because there should be no AGDS ships except us out here that's why." Sho said, answering Yuri's question.

Ruri nodded in confirmation. That's right, when we left I-Praseru, our vector put us on the edge of the Sol system. I know we haven't been gone that long; I checked the ship's chronometers to take into account any time dilation effects when we went through Alty's warp." Ruri referred to the sorcerer that summoned them to I-Praseru in the first place. Sho always admired how thorough the twins were at their jobs. "So we've only been gone for two days. We didn't get a chance to contact AGDS before we left."

"Which was a slight oversight on our part." Sho said with a grimace. "We should've let them know where we were going."

"True, but you're missing the point. If AGDS didn't know we were gone, why would an AGDS vessel be out here in our sector?"

All three of the crew were silent as they pondered Ruri's question. "Maybe something happened while we were gone, an emergency of some sort. And they had to send an AGDS ship to check it out." Yuri offered in way of an explanation.

"It's possible but surely we would've picked up some residual transmissions if there were some sort of an emergency. And I've had the communications systems on "all-scan" to pick up any emergency broadcast frequencies, like the one we're getting."

Rearing up to his full height, Sho said, "Right now the details don't matter, all we know is its an AGDS beacon and we have to check it out!" He said with a dramatic wave of his hand, to Ruri and Yuri it was _overly _dramatic. Then again, most of what Sho did was overly dramatic to them...and most of the galaxy. "Set course toward the beacon!" He sat down in his command chair, the previous thoughts of fatigue completely gone. Try as he might, he could never shake the thrill of adventure or his sense of duty out of his system.

It didn't take long for the Seingreed to reach the designated coordinates and what the crew saw surprised them. They stood in awe in front of the main viewer at the sight; a gigantic tear in the fabric of space-time better known as a wormhole stared them right in the face. "Are you sure these are the right coordinates Ruri?" Sho asked cautiously.

With a look of annoyance, Ruri turned around and stared Sho directly in the eyes. Her expression told Sho that he knew that he had asked a stupid question. "_Yes _Sho, these are the right coordinates" she replied testily. He wilted under her withering stare. "But I don't understand, there's nothing here."

"I'm not seeing anything on my sensors either Ruri" Yuri confirmed. "Maybe this is some sort of mistake?"

"It can't be, the signal is coming in loud and strong!" Ruri replied with not as much fire as she had with Sho but still peeved at the slightest implication that she could be wrong. "The only explanation that could be is that the ship is..._inside _that...thing."

"Well I'm not receiving any response to my hails" Yuri said, her fingers flying over her control panel.

"Maybe they _can't _reply?" Sho pondered. "There's very little we know about what happens inside a wormhole, stable or not.

Taking a moment to consider Sho's deduction, Ruri nodded. "That is true, nobody has ever found a stable wormhole to fully explore. We have no idea what it would do to communications. There could be some sort of time dilation effect or...or anything. There's just no enough information to go off of."

"Well whatever it is, the signal is emanating from there." There was an extreme amount of trepidation in her voice as she said it.

"Then that's where _we _go!" Sho said a little too eagerly for Ruri and Yuri's tastes. They looked at each other and shrugged. They knew he was right and even if he wasn't they would go anyway. Such was their loyalty and trust for each other. They just wished he wasn't so damned chipper about it. "All ahead full!"

Violent tremors reverberated throughout the ship. They were rocked around in their chairs despite the safety harnesses; the straps dug into their skin and they gritted their teeth from the pain. All space went wacky the further down the hole they went. Stars began to expand and contract at various intervals, colors of all sorts of bright hues flashed outside the ship. To them, it looked like when the Seingreed went into hyperspace but at the most extreme.

Inside the ship, time seemed to slow down and speed up all at the same time. The effect was disorienting; Sho saw his coffee cup begin to fall to the ground at a snail's pace and then (to what he perceived) a second later, hit the ground at the speed of a bullet. The coffee that spilled had the same visual effect as it spread across the deck in varying speeds.

Suddenly, there was a bright, white flash of light and an overwhelming pressure that overtook everybody. They struggled valiantly against the pressure wave but in the end, it consumed them and knocked them out cold.

**Next Week's Episode: **Sho and crew are forced to explore a strange new world to repair their ship but someone wants to stop him. He enters Galaclava's deadly gauntlet and as a result, Sho as Danzaiver, must battle a deadly foe. Will the power of Danzaiver will be enough to prevail? Find out next week in Danzaiver, The Stalking Horse, Episode 1: Lost on a Desert Planet, Entry of the Deadly Assassins of Tattooine. Zerochaku Danzaiver, and Danzai Burst!


	5. Episode 1: Lost on a Desert Planet

**Chapter 1:Lost on a desert planet, entry of the Deadly Assassins of Tattooine.**

When the crew of the Seingreed came to, they slowly raised their heads that were lolled onto their chests. Sho found he had drool on his shirt and jacket from where his mouth was. They all took a few moments to get their bearings, each of them not knowing what exactly to say. Sho was the first one to break the silence. "Uhm...we're here I guess?" He shook his head to try to clear the remaining cobwebs. "Uhm..._where _are we?"

It didn't take the twins long to come around and get back to their duties like nothing ever happened. They both attended their stations with the fluidity and grace that came from years of training and experience. "One moment please" Yuri replied as she perused through the data screen. "I'm not receiving any positive fixes on known stars; they don't match up with our star-charts!"

Sho though in shock, managed to nod. He was versed in the basic theory of wormholes, how they were possibly gateways to other points in space, dimensions or even time. But knowing the theory of how they worked couldn't possibly prepare him for the reality of being so totally lost. Instead of panicking however, he began to prioritize what they needed to do. _Because that's what heroes do! _He thought to himself.

"What about the beacon? Are we still reading it?"

There was a pause while Yuri studied her scopes. "Affirmative," she replied after a few moments. "But the signal is _very _faint. I'm still trying hails but still not getting any response. And I _still _can't lock onto its location."

"Damage report." he said in his most authoritative voice. He hoped that that at least the illusion of control would keep Ruri and Yuri from panicking. Well, he knew he was being a little unfair; they'd faced dangerous situations before and had always come out on top thanks to their dedication and teamwork.

"The drive system is damaged. Must been from all that jolting inside the wormhole. We have sublight and limited FTL systems but they need to be repaired." Ruri said as she leaned over her scopes. "Scanning for any inhabitable planets...wait a minute..."

"Yes, what is it?" Sho asked.

"There's not only a inhabitable planet but a fairly populated one! Not only that, I'm showing signs of heavy space traffic! I'm getting evidence of heavy FTL propulsion use by the tachyon residue around here. Wherever we were dropped, it seems like this part of the galaxy is at least space faring Its possible that this planet..." She pulled up the image of the planet she was talking about on the main viewer. "Is of a space faring culture and if they are, they may be able to help us out."

"It's likely that the AGDS ship may have limped there if they ended up where we we ended up when they emerged from the wormhole." Sho said introspectively.

"How long to get there?" Yuri asked.

"According to my calculations, it should take a single FTL jump and three hours by sublight engines to make it."

With a shrug, Sho said, "Well, what are we waiting for? If we're lucky, not only can we find what we need to repair Seingreed, but somebody on the planet may know what we're looking for!"

Hours later, Seingreed limped into orbit around a yellowish planet. According to Ruri and Yuri, the planet was primarily desert but there was a city with a bustling spaceport according to the scanners. Because Seingreed was so huge and wasn't designed to make planet-fall, it had to remain in orbit. Fortunately, the teleporter was still working. Sho made sure his equipment was ready and got the list of supplies from Ruri.

"We can't assume they'll speak English so here's the translator." She said as she handed him a small box. He took it and slipped it into his pocket. "And don't forget the list!"

"Yes mommy, I know." Sho grumbled as he stuffed the small electronic pad with its memory bank full of the requisite parts they needed, into his pocket.

"I'm serious, Sho! I'm going to teleport you a kilometer away from the spaceport. We don't know what to expect; teleporting you right into the center of the city may cause a panic. The last thing we want is to do that since we're so desperate for assistance."

He was tempted to retort back with something like "This isn't the first time I've done this!" But he had enough on his plate without starting a fight with the hot-tempered technician. Instead he swallowed his pride and stepped into the teleporter; he figured he'd settle up with Ruri later though it would likely be a losing proposition, like most of their fights were.

One moment he was still aboard Seingreed, the next he was standing in the middle of a desert. Sand and hot air swirled around him as he shielded his eyes from the planet's twin suns. "Oh wow!" He exclaimed as he felt the blistering heat on his skin. He was glad that though it was hot, he was wearing his uniform jacket otherwise he knew he would've had instant sunburn. With no time to waste, he headed toward the spaceport.

Loud sounds of engines roaring, muffled by the desert sands and winds was the first thing that greeted him as he entered the city. Also the exotic smells of things that he couldn't readily identify assaulted his nostrils. He stood in wonder for a moment, trying to take in everything.

There were aliens of all kinds of shapes, sizes, colors, and other various appearances. He did see some people that appeared to be human but he knew better than to assume that they were human. Sho himself was not born on Earth but on Planet Izanda. He'd known beings that looked human but were anything but. Reining in his wandering mind, he set himself to his task.

Meanwhile, a creature that resembled a reptile but walked as a human studied the newcomer as he meandered around the city. The creature looked through electronic binoculars; the information that he received, sized up the human, his height, weight, any apparent weapons. Mentally, he made a comparison with the information he had received earlier when he was first hired to what he was seeing. It was an _exact _match, his quarry had finally arrived.

_I wish all my intel was this spot on_ the creature mused as he lowered his binoculars. Picking up a huge rifle, he brought it to his shoulder and activated it. The high pitched whine signaled it was charging and it would take only a couple more seconds before he was ready to fire. He unlatched the electronic scope of the weapon and adjusted the sights. "Easiest thirty-thousand credits I'll ever make" the creature muttered to itself in its guttural native tongue.

While unbeknownst to the lizard man, Dalos Tervain, bounty hunter extraordinaire, watched Ma'lk Seti, his lizard man rival get ready to set his shot up. He had been briefed by Dooku that he would have competition for the bounty. The mysterious stranger that Dooku wanted killed also had hit the Hutts and they in turn sent their own assassin to deal with him.

Word through the grapevine was that the assassin was only getting paid thirty-thousand credits for the hit. That signaled to Dalos that his competition was low rent. At first he thought about ridding himself of the competition but then decided to see what his rival brought to the table. If their quarry was _half _as competent as he'd seen in the holo, Dalos doubted that even Ma'lk would be enough to do the job. If Ma'lk somehow got lucky, he would merely kill the lizard man and claim the reward for himself without having to expend any kind of effort. It was a win/win situation for him and he _loved _those kinds of situations. _Either way, it should be a good show, _the thought brought a smile to his face.

Languages of all sorts of dialects that Sho had never heard in his life flew around like bullets. His translator had trouble trying to process all the sounds in the vicinity. Right now, his focus was on a part that looked similar to a hyperspace drive converter that Seingreed needed. For all he knew though, it could've been an alien coffee maker.

The translator spit out each word that was translated from the tiny creature in the brown robe with hood that covered its face except for two bright yellow eyes, intermittently. It was frustrating to Sho that the translator reacted so slowly; it sounded like it was trying to explain a physics problem to a very slow person. The hooded creature jumped up and down and gesticulated wildly; Sho couldn't tell if the creature was angry, excited or just bargaining.

A glint of light reflected off the part that Sho was examining which he found odd. The suns had stayed in the same position the whole time he'd been talking to the little alien about the part. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up and he felt a queasiness in his gut. He had lived with danger for far too long to ignore the feeling now. That reflection _wasn't _a good thing.

Reacting on instinct, he dove to the ground; he wondered if he would look silly doing this in a crowd full of shoppers. When the laser blast hit where his head would have been only moments before, he felt vindicated. "Ruri, I'm being shot at!" he yelled into his communicator.

"What? By who?!"

"Gonna find that out now, stand by!" He looked up in the direction of where the shot came from where he saw the light of the twin suns reflecting off of a scope. He rolled out of the way of yet another shot that hit the little robed alien square in the chest, killing it. "_No!" _He screamed in anger. He'd always hated innocents getting hurt, he especially hated it when they were hurt because of him. _Whoever this is will pay for this! _

Quickly he got to his feet and broke into a sprint, running in the direction of the tower where the shots came from. Kicking the door open, he bound up the stairs, taking them two at a time. He had a misstep, almost falling on his face. Luckily for him, the motion saved him from catching a blaster bolt in the face; sparks showered off of the wall from the hit. Sho turned to look at the black spot on the wall and got even angrier. "Wait till I get my hands on you!" He shouted as he continued up the stairs.

_This human is _crazy! Ma'lk thought to himself as he beat a retreat. He'd already blown what should have been a simple hit and now he was on the run from a human who hadn't even drawn a blaster yet. But he knew better than to take his quarry lightly; he had every intention of finishing the job but fighting in an enclosed space was stupid. Ma'lk ran to the top of the tower, slamming the door shut behind him, knowing that would be no real barrier between him and his quarry. He took two steps back and ran forward, leaping off of the tower, onto an adjoining roof below.

Kicking the door open, Sho was just in time to see a lizard-like man with a huge rifle, leap off the tower and onto a roof, landing with a combat roll. _He won't evade me that easy!_ He thought as he ran toward the edge as well. He took a huge leap, somersaulting in mid-air. "_Zerochaku!" _He screamed, activating his transmogrification device. The Tactical Frame appeared around him, covering him with its armor transforming him into his heroic alter-ego, Danzaiver.

Ma'lk's slitted eyes were open as wide as they could as he saw before him, a red-armored clad man. He looked more like he transformed into a robot than into a man in a suit of armor, but it was the armor he'd seen in the briefing holo that he had been shown earlier. He saw what he had done to Jabba the Hutt's businesses and some of his best mercenaries. He knew that the armored man was _not _to be taken lightly.

"You know, I've always had an intense dislike for snipers, too cowardly!" Danzaiver said, his voice electronically altered. "I don't know why you tried to kill me but you're going to pay for it, rest assured of that!"

His opponent spoke in a language that Danzaiver didn't understand and he wished that he had the translator out. Though he couldn't understand it, he caught the gist of the message when the assassin leveled the rifle at him and hissed. A smile or what served for one played over the killer's mouth as five more beings of various races came out of hidden places on the roof. They all wore similar armor to the assassin and each wielded weapons which Danzaiver knew were deadly. There was no doubt in Danzaiver's mind which side they were on.

"If you think you can stop me, _then stop me! _So here we go; the power of the supreme ruler destroys all evil! The ultimate hero, _Danzaiver!" _He replied with his trademark battle cry and gestures. In his hand appeared the Danzai-Blade as he dashed toward the mercenaries.

In unison, Mal'k and his fellow mercs fired their blasters. He couldn't speak for the others but he was sure that he had a perfect bead on Danzaiver, but he missed. His target leapt twenty feet into the air in a spiraling flip, that rivaled the most graceful Twi'lek acrobat he'd seen in his life. His landing was near perfect as he came down with his energy sword on a Trandoshin mercenary. The monstrous looking warrior screamed as he was vivisected. Now after seeing with his own eyes, the crimson warrior in action, he felt fear for the first time.

_Too easy, _Danzaiver thought to himself as he killed his first target. He ducked out of the path of incoming laser bolts, going into a roll. He came up on his feet and started to run toward his second target. A bug-eyed alien fire a vicious looking weapon at him in rapid succession. Moving in a zig-zag pattern, he dodged the blasts. He was still forty feet away from the mercenary when he flew at him with his fist out; he hovered six inches off the ground using the Tactical Frame's limited anti-grav systems. He caught the mercenary in what looked to be its mouth, knocking it out.

_Two down _he was thinking as multiple blaster bolts caught him in the back. "Argh!" He screamed out as he staggered, trying to keep his balance. _I got cocky, these guys mean business! _More bolts came at him but he got into defensive mode. A form fitting field of force extending from the Danzai-blade as he held it in a defensive position, covered him. "I'm not easy!" He screamed as the incoming blasts impacted the shield. _I can't hold this indefinitely. I've got to make a move and soon! _

Before he could put his thought into action, a silvery sphere rolled next to his feet. He didn't even have time to utter an epithet as scorching heat exploded from the bomb. The blast took out consumed everything in a five meter radius, scorching the surface area black from the heat.

Unshielding their eyes, the remaining mercenaries smiled when they saw no trace of their opponent. _I don't care how tough anybody is, _nobody _withstands a thermal detonator. Period. _Mal'lk thought with a grim smile. He and the rest of the mercs were still feeling self-satisfied when a glint of light caught on metal. They looked up to find their opponent on top of the tower. _Of all the kriffing..._

"That blast depleted the remainder of my shield. I won't go easy on you!" Danzaiver said, withdrawing his pistol, Vicetriver. He leaped high into the air and screamed the pistol's name as he fired it. A blue beam of energy vaporized the remaining three henchmen. He landed in a dramatic pose, holding his blade in one hand and the pistol in the other. "Let's finish this!" He shouted.

Both warriors fired their weapons at each other. Neither of them could get a solid bead on the other since they were zig-zagging, throwing off the others aim. Danzaiver fired Vicetriver and swung the Danzai-blade at the same time. The beam from Vicetriver missed but this was a feint. Waves of energy emitted from Danzai-blade in the form of blue crescents hit Mal'lk in his armor, cleaving it in two and sending the mercenary to the ground with a gargling cry.

Walking toward the prone form slowly Danzaiver holstered the pistol but kept Danzai-blade in a ready position. He didn't need to get closer, the Tactical Frame's enhanced optics was able to see that his opponent was not getting up. "Who sent you?" He asked, the snarl of his question barely distorted by the Frame's voice scrambler. He found however that his question was wasted, the mercenary was already dead.

"Danzaiver, are you okay?" Yuri asked through the comm-link. The concern was totally obvious in her voice.

"Yeah Yuri, I'm fine. Some damage to the Tactical Frame but nothing too serious. These guys were tough. I wonder why they attacked me?"

"Who knows? All we _do _know that its definitely not safe there. Get the parts and get out of there!" Ruri replied.

Nodding even though Yuri and Ruri couldn't see the gesture, he went to the bodies of the mercenaries and started searching them, hoping for some clue as to why they ambushed and attacked him. There was no such luck on that end but he did find what seemed to look like money. "Well one good thing came out of this, I might be able to afford the parts I need, thanks to these gentlemen." He said.

Dalos lowered his binoculars with a grim smile on his face. He watched the whole fight and he had to admit, he was impressed and that was a word that he didn't use very often and for just anybody. This "Danzaiver" was the real goods albeit a tad silly; he took out six highly trained mercenaries in...He looked at his chronometer and noted from the time the battle started to its end, two minutes. He was right to ask Dooku for a half-million. Mal'lk and his thugs had died for thirty-thousand. There was a cruel, cosmic joke in there somewhere.

"We'll be meeting _real_ soon 'Danzaiver.'" He said as he walked away from the roof to his awaiting ship.

Stepping off the teleport pad, Sho, now out of the Tactical Frame and back in his normal clothes, dropped the parts onto the deck. Yuri ran over and gave him a huge hug with which he reacted with a slight grimace. "Sho, are you okay?"

"Yeah, just a minor case of sunburn..."

The twins got a good look at Sho and saw he was as red as a lobster. They looked at each other and burst out with a giggle.

"That's right, make fun of the suffering guy over here..." He muttered as he headed toward the showers. Their laughter still followed him as he closed the shower door. Eventually, even he had to admit that the situation was funny. What wasn't funny was the fact that he was attacked without provocation. "Who were those guys? What is going on?" He said to himself as the water drenched his head.

**Next Week's Episode: **Sho, having barely survived his confrontation with Jabba the Hutt's mercenaries, finds himself in yet another deadly situation when he faces down Obi Wan Kenobi. The Jedi, sent to bring in the Special Inspector pushes the envelope. Danzaiver finds himself driven into a tight corner by the Jedi Master's power. Will Danzaiver's luck finally run out? Tune in next week for Danzaiver, Episode 2: A Wise Blade. Entry of Jedi Master, Obi Wan Kenobi. And Danzai Burst!


	6. Episode 2: A Wise Blade

**Chapter 2: A Wise Blade**

"Keep in mind this is all guess-work since we don't have a whole lot to go off of here..." Yuri said as she pointed at the holographic screen with a pen. Sho and Ruri stood behind her, absorbing her every word with interest. "The signal we received when we came through the wormhole was an echo. At first, I thought it was a residual effect of the wormhole but then I found a pulsar not too far from where we entered this galaxy," she pointed with her pen at a blinking light on the screen. "Pulsars have been known to play havoc with communications in the past."

He couldn't speak for Ruri but Sho wished that Yuri would hurry up and get on with it. Out of the three of them, Yuri was the most intelligent, well versed in many different scientific disciplines. She could also be _very _long-winded.

Of course he would never say that out loud; Yuri was very sensitive, much unlike her sister. The last thing he wanted to do was hurt her feelings, especially after everything she had went through. Instead he decided to bite his tongue and do his best to not doze off.

"Taking that into consideration," she continued. "I ran a simulation of the signal propagation if it was affected by the pulsar's gravity and radiation." She traced a line with her pen from the blinking light to a blue globe that represented a planet. "I think the origin of the signal is here at this planet!"

"It's an interesting theory Yuri." her sister admitted. "It's also better than what we have right now, which is nothing." The Seingreed had been searching the nearby solar system for three days for any signs of the APDS ship, while limping only with its sublight engines. Though slow and ponderous, it gave the crew time to effect repairs on its her drive systems.

Sho had gotten really lucky not only surviving his last battle but also somehow getting the part that would serve as a replacement. Sure they had to make some serious modifications to make it work for the Seingreed, but worked it did after all was said and done. _But then again, that's always been Sho _Ruri thought fondly. She shook off the thought as quickly as it buzzed in her brain.

"Well then there's nothing left but to check it out!" Sho said, dramatically pointing at the blue planet. "We've still got a duty to our sister ship!"

"Hold on..." Ruri said, raising a hand. "We still don't know what ship disappeared. We don't even know where we are! Don't you think we're going off a little half-cocked here?"

Resting his hand on his hips and thrusting his chest out Sho said, "It's possible Ruri, but what if that ship is in trouble, the crew in danger? The longer we spend debating the whats and whys' the more the danger increases." His voice held the tremble of self-righteousness in it that Yuri absolutely loved and that Ruri loved _and _hated in the same breath. "Also, we're already here in this...galaxy, we've made our bed now we have to lie in it so we might as well do our jobs!"

A resigned sigh left Ruri's lips, Yuri's sigh had a much different context behind it, one of admiration. "Well I can't argue that we're already here. And yes, you're right..." she said, her voice unconsciously dropping in the admittance of Sho's logic. "We do have a duty. I'm just saying that you've already been attacked for no reason once. We should proceed with caution."

"Of course Ruri! We'll be careful, right Sho?" Yuri said, her eyes never leaving the object of her affections. Ruri had similar feelings but she wished her twin sister could reign them in better.

"Of course we will guys...er ladies! Now let's saddle up!"

Meanwhile, a figure in a brown hood that covered his head stood on the rooftop where the fierce battle between Mal'lk Seti and Danzaiver took place only a few days before. He knelt down by a scorch mark left by the Special Inspector's weapon. He took out a device no smaller than his index finger and scanned the scorch mark. Looking at the readout he pulled back the hood of his cloak; his bearded features formed into a frown as he stared at the readout.

Walking back to his starfighter, Obi Wan Kenobi got the attention of the red, conical droid that sat on the port side of the small craft. Without saying a word, the droid turned toward the Jedi and activated a hologram communication directed toward his former apprentice and current best friend, Anakin Skywalker.

"He was definitely here, Anakin." Obi Wan said as he crossed his arms under his cloak in contemplation.

"Are you sure, Master?" The flickering holographic image of the younger Jedi replied.

"No doubt about it my friend. The scorch marks match the ones we found at the crime scenes on Coruscant and everybody I talked to, positively identified the images I showed them. Blast, I only missed him by a couple of days!"

"Don't beat yourself up, Master. Our enemy's movements make no apparent sense. At first we thought that him attacking Jabba the Hutt's treasury was only a rumor and that was only a week ago. Because its the Outer-Rim, information travels slow. Believe me, I know." Anakin replied. The Jedi Master was very well aware of Anakin's history with the planet he was on. The unpleasant memories of his former status as a slave on Tattooine was probably a big reason why he chose to stay on Coruscant and continue the investigation there. "Why would he go back to the scene of his crime when virtually everybody in the galaxy is looking for him?"

Obi Wan nodded in thoughtful agreement. "Very astute questions my former apprentice. "He seems to be motivated by a logic all of his own, doesn't it?"

"Maybe he doesn't fear anybody? He is certainly powerful enough as we've seen." Anakin was referring to the death of their friend and colleague, Master Pod Pedia. "That kind of power can go to one's head, make them reckless." There was certain tone in Anakin's voice that Obi Wan found strange, even through the garbled hologram. He knew that Anakin was reminded of how he gained a cybernetic arm after his first duel with Count Dooku. _First hand experience is a painful teacher _The bearded Jedi Master thought to himself.

Nodding as much to Anakin as to himself Obi Wan said, "Its a very real possibility. For now though, continue your investigations on your end. I'll keep you posted if I find anything else."

"I will, Master. Please be careful and may the Force be with you."

"And with you my friend." With that, the hologram clicked off. Obi Wan sighed and climbed into his Starfighter. "R4, start the launch sequence." He said to the little droid. The droid beeped in curiosity. "I don't think we're going to get anymore answers on this blasted rock. Maybe we'll get luckier with a change of scenery."

Moments later Obi Wan found himself back in space. He was orbiting Tattooine on approach with his hyperdrive docking ring. Meanwhile, he was monitoring the scanners when R4 beeped wildly; the beeps came through the control panel of the ship since R4 was outside. Smiling, Obi Wan read through the feed. He had R4 perform a scan, the criteria being "anything out of the ordinary." He knew it was asking a lot of the little droid and the ship's sensors but it was better than nothing.

Apprently, R4 had struck paydirt. According to the information on the screen, R4 found a trace amount of particles which matched Danzaiver's energy weapon, the same particles he scanned on Coruscant and again on Tattooine. Normally the particle count being so minute as it was, the scanners would have never picked them up but R4 had gotten lucky. It seemed as if the particles were relatively fresh.

"R4, can you trace where these particles are coming from?" Obi Wan asked but R4 had already anticipated his question and was relaying the coordinates. The Jedi steered his ship in the direction the droid indicated. Since it was in the same solar system, he had no need of the docking ring for now.

It didn't take long to reach the source or highest concentration of the particles. Obi Wan surmised that Danzaiver's ship was either powered or at least partially used these particles to propel it. "The trail seems to go cold here" he mused to himself inside the cramped cockpit. Then with a sudden flash of inspiration he said, "R4, bring up the star map please?" The droid obeyed, overlaying the map on the cockpit window. "Now bring up a representation of the propulsion outline."

Again the droid obeyed. He saw the "burst" of particles which coincided with a sudden ignition, most likely an FTL drive. He spotted a slight, faint trail that led off in a particular direction. Tracing the trail with his fingers he studied the map and his finger landed on a blue orb.

The blue planet was Kamino and Obi Wan had unpleasant flashbacks of his last visit there when he battled Jango Fett, the bounty hunter who's DNA was used in the creation of the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR). He knew with an FTL, his quarry's ship could be virtually _anywhere. _"Well, it's better than nothing I suppose." Obi Wan muttered. "Plot a course R4 and let's get back to the docking ring."

Dropping out of hyperspace, the Seingreed engaged its sublight engines. It drew ever closer to Kamino though the crew didn't know the planet's name. Each of them were at their duty stations as they prepared to enter the planet's orbit.

"There's a faint trace of a signal here" Yuri said, pulling her readings on the main viewer. "This I didn't have to account for a pulsar or other interstellar phenomena. It's strange though..."

Sho raised an eyebrow and asked, "Oh, what's so strange?"

"It's as if there's a fragment of a signal and not the complete thing."

"Yuri, that could be for any number of reasons," Ruri explained with a scholarly air. "It could be because the ship's transmitter is damaged or its lost power,"

"Or because they're in a place where the transmission is being interfered with" Sho chimed in. Ruri and Yuri nodded, both slightly impressed with Sho's burst of intellect. "It does look like a watery planet after all. Maybe they crashed deep in the ocean somewhere?"

Yuri shook her head and pointed to a spot on the topographical scan. "No, according to the scanner the signal is emanating from that place that looks very industrialized. Why would the signal have trouble being broadcast from there?"

With a nod, Sho stood up from his command chair. "Good point Yuri. Can we communicate wit the city?"

She shook her head a second time. "Negative, for some reason our communications are not getting through. It seems as if our communication wavelengths are out of phase with the surface."

"That makes our job a whole lot harder then. The fact remains that we don't know so I have to go down and investigate. I'll keep you posted."

"Wait a minute, don't you remember the last time you went down to a planet in this galaxy? You got attacked!" Ruri exclaimed.

Admittedly, that had been bugging Sho ever since they left the desert planet. Try as he might, he still could not figure out why six people tried to kill him. He'd been the subject of enough assassination attempts to know one when he saw one and they had intended premeditated murder on him. He couldn't afford to believe that that was a fluke.

"I understand that Ruri but those risks come with the job!" He replied after a few moments of thought.

Again his voice peaked into his "heroic pitch" as Ruri privately called it. _I love the guy but sometimes I wish that he'd get past his ego! _She thought.

Rain pelted against Sho's head when he materialized from the teleportation process, making his black hair stick to his head. The first thing he saw was a vast ocean surrounding him; salt air assaulted his nostrils as he tried to get his bearings. He was standing on a steel deck that was attached to a gigantic super-structure that raised hundreds of feet into the sky. It was night time and the storm clouds gave the sky an even gloomier appearance, the illumination from the structure made the place all the more foreboding to Sho for some reason.

Just as he started to walk toward the entrance of the building, a transparent door slid open to reveal a being standing within. The being was tall, gangly and gray with large black eyes. It wore white robes and moved with a subtle grace. Its outline was highlighted by the glow of the rooms within, giving it an ethereal appearance.

It beckoned Sho to come closer so he did. Each step he took he was wary of some hidden surprise attack. If the alien noticed his jumpiness, it didn't give any indication. After he got closer to the door, he let himself relax a little. True he didn't know what this being was capable of, but it didn't look like it was planning to hurt him in anyway.

"Are you Jedi? Republic soldier?" The being asked in perfect English, making Sho's jaw drop.

"Excuse me? What's a Jedi? Republic of what?" he replied.

The being looked confused for a moment and then composed itself. "My apologies, please, come out of the rain. We Kaminoans, forget that you humans maybe composed primarily of water but do not like being in it for excessive periods of time." It seemed to be an attempt at humor and after a few moments, Sho chuckled in a manner he suspected was to be expected.

Grateful to get out of the rain, he shook his head hard in an attempt to dry out his hair. Water few all over the place. "Thank you very much for letting me get out of the rain, but I have a few questions for you."

It was the being's turn to look quizzical. "Oh, what sort of questions? Who are you?"

"I am Sho Mikagami of the AGDS," He said, flashing his badge, the symbol of his authority. The alien looked at it and him with an unknowing expression, an expression he expected. "I guess I should start out my questions with, where am I? What is the name of this planet?"

"Kamino, you are on Kamino."

As Obi Wan's ship traveled through hyperspace, he let his mind drift. The more he thought about Kamino, the more sense it made to search there. _This armored character had attacked Republic and Separatist troops alike as well as stealing from one of the biggest crime lords in the galaxy. It seemed that he didn't limit his attacks to any one group_.

Following that line of logic, he continued to think about the problem at hand. _If he's going in for more attacks, Kamino is a good target. After all, it _is _the source of our clone troopers. If he really wanted to hurt the Republic effort, that would be a great place to do it. _He chuckled at the thought suddenly. _Then again, this is only a hunch. There's no way to be certain which way his ship truly went, I'm just making supposition. _

His Starfighter dropped out of hyperspace as he neared Kamino. He sighed as his hands gripped the controls and he detached from the hyperspace docking ring. Immediately, his sensors picked up a large, freighter like craft. _Not too surprising, lots of deliveries come to and from Kamino for their cloning projects. _What grabbed his attention though was that this craft did not match any known configuration according to his ship's databanks.

"That's interesting..." he murmured. His heart raced as he told R4, "Run a scan on that ship there. See if its emitting the particles we're searching for." The process only took a few moments but for Obi Wan, the waiting was interminable. Finally, the information he was searching for appeared on the screen and Obi Wan smiled. "That's our guy."

Getting closer to the ship, Obi Wan let out a low whistle at the size of it. _Well I'm certainly not going to try to take it on in one lone Starfighter. _"R4, contact the nearest fleet and tell them to bring all the backup it can as soon as possible." While the little droid did that, he beamed a message to his friend, Anakin Skywalker. "Anakin, I've located our target, he's at Kamino!"

"Master, I'm on my way." the image of Anakin replied.

"I've already called in reserves to try to detain his ship. Meanwhile, I'm going planetside. I have a strong suspicion that he may be trying to wreck our cloning facilities."

His former apprentice nodded in agreement. "Yes, given the random nature of his attacks, the cloning facilities do seem to be a good, potential target. I urge the utmost caution Master, you should wait for me."

"If he's already in the process of vandalizing the facilities, I may not have the time to wait. Get here all best possible speed. Hopefully we can take him together. If not..."

"If not, then you'll have to do the best you can. Be careful Master, may the Force be with you."

"And with you, old friend." Obi Wan clicked off the communicator and took a deep breath as he pointed his fighter toward the surface of Kamino.

"And that's my story." Sho said, finishing up his dissertation of how he arrived on Kamino.

The Kaminoan nodded as she comprehended what her (and Sho was sure it was a her by the tone of her voice) guest was saying. She spread her arms and said, "I'm sorry Mr. Mikagami, but we've detected no vessels of that type of configuration landing nor crashing on the surface of Kamino. We have detected a faint signal matching that description over the past couple of weeks but we figured it was a trick of the atmosphere or some sort of background radiation."

Sho felt a wave of dejection wash over him as he looked at the pristine, glowing floor. "I see..." he said absently. "Well, do you mind if I have a look around anyway, try to trace down the source of the signal for my edification?"

At first the Kamioan hesitated but then she slowly nodded. "I do not see the harm, but you will need to have an escort and hand over any weapons that you may be carrying."

"Agreed, but I do not carry any weapons." Sho replied. _Well, no obvious ones anyway. I'm _not _going to hand over my transmogrifier! _He thought. Though the alien had been friendly and nobody had shown him any intent to harm, he was still too shaken up by his last visit to a planet to completely trust anybody.

Bright lights permeated the facility, illuminating the vast expanse of it. Even then, Sho could not grasp the sheer scope of the place. And in this huge place, there were chambers with what looked like human beings enclosed in them in some sort of state of suspended animation.

Horrified he asked, "What's going on here?"

"This is a cloning facility. We create clone troopers for the Grand Army of the Republic." The Kaminoan replied matter of factly. Sho could tell she took great pride in what she did and suspected so did everybody else here. He personally could not help but feel a little bit of disgust. For some reason, cloning reminded him too much of something Galaclava would do and he felt a bit sickened.

_I couldn't comprehend the thought of being copied! _He thought as he looked around. To underscore the point, he saw a contingent of alike looking men in blue hospital type gowns, walking around. They all looked like they descended from a Polynesian island; they were physically fit and how they walked indicated a high level of discipline.

Beeping from Sho's belt indicated that they were near the source of the AGDS signal. He knew there was no ship inside the chamber no matter _how _big it was. Curious, he took the tracker off his belt and waved it around, trying to find which the direction the beeping was the strongest. Ignoring the urging of the Kaminoan, he walked toward the source of the beeping and found a chip embedded into some wall circuitry. He recognized instantly that it was a chip that belonged in an AGDS ship. _But what's it doing in here? _

"Hold it right there!" A voice shouted from across the bay. The voice was authoritative and strong. Sho turned around to find a man, clad in brown and white robes standing in a defensive stance. He had sandy blonde hair, with a neatly trimmed beard to match and piercing blue eyes. "You won't escape _this _time, 'Danzaiver.'"

All Sho could register at the moment was shock. _Who is this guy and how does he know my name? _From the way the bearded man said Sho's codename, he apparently had some problem with him. "Who are you?" Sho managed to choke out still in surprise.

"I'm the one who's going to bring you in for your crimes. You are under arrest for murder! Don't make any sudden moves and come along quietly."

Again, Sho's eyebrows raised in surprise and then they suddenly narrowed in anger. He had spent way too much time, been in way too many battles to be accused of some crime like some common thug! "You're mistaken mister..." Sho began. "I've murdered nobody!"

"Well, why don't you come in and you can tell your side of the story then."

"You're arresting me without cause? What kind of galaxy is this? No I will not come in with you!"

Though he was trained to despise the feeling, part of Obi Wan was glad that his quarry was being defiant. Still, discipline reasserted itself and maintained his rationality. "That's too bad, but there is no reason to fight. I am giving you one last chance, surrender peacefully or face the consequences." To emphasize his stance on the matter, Obi Wan withdrew his lightsaber.

Anger began to well up in Sho. It was _his _job to arrest criminals, not be taken in like one! "Just who do you think you are to accuse me, a member of the AGDS! And to try to arrest me no less!" The affront to his honor and integrity was just too much for Sho to take, especially after nearly being killed after he just got to this cockamamie galaxy!

Not only that, the sight of the man's weapon put Sho on the defensive. It was clear to him that the man was intent on bringing him in and Sho had no intentions of going with him. "Zerochaku!" He screamed into the transmogrifier on his wrist. A red aura surrounded him and formed the Danzaiver Tactical Frame onto his person.

Obi Wan nodded as Danzaiver revealed his true self. _So its to be like that then. _He thought as he raised his lightsaber into a defensive stance. The blue energy blade hummed like a living thing.

"You think you're the only one with an energy blade? Danzai-blade!" He screamed, He grabbed a black metal handle and from it, a blade of shimmering bluish-white energy erupted from it. "I've already been attacked and nearly killed without provocation once and you think you're just going to take me in like some kind of petty crook?"

Sho just couldn't shake the sheer audacity of this robed fool shouting accusations at him; it burned like acid in his mouth. My patience is at an end! And furthermore, I don't _recognize _your authority!" In the back of his mind, Sho knew he should've probably acted a little more mature but in light of everything that he'd been through in the past couple of days... "In fact...I think this is yet another trick! But I'll show you. The power of a supreme ruler destroys all evil! The ultimate hero, _Danzaiver!"_

Pulling out his signature pistol, he screamed, "_Vicetriver!" _as he fired it. Danzaiver had faced many opponents in his day and had seen his share of amazing things but what his robed adversary did was nothing short of baffling. The high intensity laser beams streaked toward the robed man, using his glowing blue energy blade, the Jedi blocked the blasts with seeming ease. "How did you do that?!" Sho exclaimed, still in disbelief.

He fired again and again the Jedi parried the blasts but this time, returning one of Danzaiver's shots to him. Ducking, Danzaiver just narrowly avoided getting hit by the incoming shot. The blast impacted on the wall, leaving a blackened scorch mark.

"Have you got anything else or are you ready to surrender now?" Obi Wan said with a smile. This angered Danzaiver to no end and instead of a verbal response, he dashed toward the smiling, bearded man. Obi Wan was ready for this though and brought his lightsaber to block the incoming attack of the Danzai-Blade. The two energy swords clashed with a bright flare of light and sparks. The sound of the blades clashing together was deafening.

Shock of the impact made the two foes stagger back. They paused as they regarded each other: Obi Wan knew he shouldn't be cocky; he had seen the results of Danzaiver's power and had just felt it with his sword swing. He couldn't remember the last time he felt such raw power behind a sword stroke. Danzaiver meanwhile was becoming more impressed with each passing second of his opponent. Between parrying Vicetriver's blasts and parrying his strike with which the Tactical Frame's strength was behind it, he was no ordinary opponent and not to be taken lightly.

They crossed blades again and again, each strike highlighted by bright flares of light. Obi Wan moved with a speed and grace that bordered on the inhuman. If not for the Tactical Frame's sensors, Danzaiver would have been already overwhelmed. Even still, it was almost as if the Jedi were anticipating Danzaiver's moves before he made them. _Then I must go faster! _He thought as he pushed himself harder.

There was a ferocity that was controlled with training and discipline that Obi Wan sensed in his opponent. Though aggressive, none of his moves were sloppy. Letting the Force flow through him, he attacked with Form III: Makashi, coming in high and low with his counterattacks. He did sense a great anger with each of his opponent's swings however; he had the advantage at first but now Obi Wan was giving ground. There was anger but there was no _malice _in his attacks and Obi Wan knew the difference. _He's trying to defeat me yes, but he's not trying to murder me. Why? _He thought as he continued to parry and counterstrike. To his chagrin, his ground was running out; a ledge was a mere five feet away and if Danzaiver kept coming, which he would, Obi Wan was going over it. Utilizing the Force, he propelled himself into a fifteen foot jump onto a catwalk above.

"Not going to get away that easy!" Danzaiver said as he leaped onto the catwalk as well. Ending his flight with a flip, he swung at Obi Wan just as he landed. The Jedi blocked the unexpected slash; he could feel tingling on the back of his neck from the energy field of the blade where it nearly bit into his flesh. Danzaiver had seen humans capable of such incredible feats and they always had had some sort of power to them. He suspected that this bearded swordsman was no different.

Continuing to drive Obi Wan backward, only pausing when there was a stalemate, they left the cloning room. Actually, Obi Wan wanted it that way; he couldn't risk the damage to any clones during their battle. Baiting Danzaiver to continue to press the attack, they entered the main hallway. Not that it was hard to bait Danzaiver and Obi Wan wasn't sure he was _letting_ his opponent do anything. Either way, he decided to not hold back any longer.

Lashing out with the Force, he hit Danzaiver with a wave of energy, sending his armored opponent crashing forty feet into the opposite wall of the great hallway. "Ooof!" Danzaiver cried out as he smashed into the wall. He slid down and hit the ground hard, his head ringing from the impact. The Tactical Frame was indeed sturdy but Danzaiver had trouble recalling when he'd been hit like that. And he wasn't sure exactly _what _he'd been hit with.

Even as Danzaiver was staggering to his feet, using the Force to again propel him, Obi Wan leaped toward the red-armored fighter, coming down with his lightsaber. Danzaiver's resiliency surprised even Obi Wan; he had hit Danzaiver with enough force with his blast to shatter permacrete. Danzaiver should've been out on his feet but not only did he stand up, he managed to parry Obi Wan's incoming lightsaber strike.

"I'm not easy!" Danzaiver shouted as he parried the incoming blade, deflecting the tip toward the ground. Sparks shot out from where the lightsaber bit into the floor. _C'mon Sho, move! _Shooting straight up into the air, he screamed out "Not yet!" as he came down with the Danzai-Blade. Obi Wan tumbled out of the way but this was merely a feint. Danzaiver was glad his helmet covered the smile on his face because when he landed, he swung outward expecting to catch Obi Wan in the midsection.

Again parrying, the Jedi deflected the blade away from his body and lashed out with a kick that caught Danzaiver in _his _midsection. The armored man staggered slightly with a grunt but recovered quickly as he parried Obi Wan's followup sword strike. He did have some satisfaction to see Danzaiver step backward, giving ground to gain some distance from Obi Wan's assault; the momentum had again shifted.

"Let's try something else then!" Danzaiver shouted. He took two steps before launching himself in the air, his repulsors screaming from the power output. Spinning in a corkscrew with his blade pointing outward, Danzaiver was cocooned in a field of shimmering energy as he flew toward Obi Wan. "Psychobar!" He shouted the name of the attack as he flew to skewer Obi Wan. "Damn!" he screamed as Obi Wan parried the attack while simultaneously somersaulting out of the way.

Now he saw _how _Danzaiver could overcome a great Jedi like Pod Pedia. His attacks were not only powerful but _varied _as well. Obi Wan wondered what else Danzaiver had up his sleeve. Deciding he didn't want to find out, he launched into a new series of attacks, varying them up and coming at unexpected angles designed to keep his opponent off balance.

Danzaiver was hard-pressed to continue to keep up with Obi Wan's fierce assaults. Though the Tactical Frame augmented his strength and endurance, even it and _he _had limits. He knew if he continued to fight at this horrific pace, he would tire out. As if to emphasize that point, he let his guard slip only for a moment but the Jedi was too experienced a warrior to let the opportunity pass. The blue lightsaber came down across the right shoulder pauldron of the Tactical Frame, severing it and causing Danzaiver to yell out, "Argh!"

"So you _can _be defeated!" Obi Wan cried out triumphantly. The strike gave Obi Wan confidence and renewed his ever tiring limbs, that and using the Force to replenish his fading strength. He continued to attack. He could sense Danzaiver's confidence fading with each strike.

_He's good, too good. But I can't afford to lose here! _Danzaiver thought frantically. He backpedaled using the Tactical Frame's repulsors to propel him; his feet hovered six inches off the ground as he flew backward. Simultaneously, Obi Wan broke into a Force enhanced sprint, striking with his lightsaber which Danzaiver parried. Danzaiver ended his retreat with a Tactical Frame enhanced leap backward.

As he expected, Obi Wan was there when he landed. He parried the thrust of Obi Wan's blade while grabbing the Jedi. Using his weight and grip, he flipped Obi Wan onto his back using a Judo throw. The Jedi grunted from the impact; to Danzaiver, it sounded like the wind got knocked out of him. That bought the Special Inspector a much needed respite. He staggered back, gaining some distance.

Despite being enhanced by the Force, the Jedi also was not immune to fatigue. The clever tactic used by Danzaiver proved that he too was also flagging for he never would have fallen for it earlier. He did wonder why Danzaiver didn't finish him off while he was on the ground, instead choosing to gain some distance. That wasn't important now, instead he summoned the Force to pick up a nearby stanchion that weighed at least five-hundred kilograms and hurled it at Danzaiver.

Not believing what he was seeing even as it was happening, Danzaiver hesitated and the mistake cost him. Unable to dodge in time, he barely got the Danzai-blade up in time. Despite the shielding of the barrier, the impact reverberated through the Tactical Frame, shaking Sho up inside of it and causing him to spit out blood. The impact hurled Sho through the door separating the hallway from the outside. He smashed through it, sending debris everywhere and slid across the rain slicked surface of the outside landing pad.

Getting up to one knee, Danzaiver activated the Tactical Frame's power boost system. _Gotta go for broke! _"Here... goes …._nothing!" _He shouted as the booster system sent power through the suit with a white aura. The Jedi broke into a run when he saw Danzaiver start to glow white, presumably to finish the armored warrior off.

"Your tyranny is at an end!" Obi Wan said as he ran toward Danzaiver. He ended his leap with a Force enhanced leap, covering the rest of the remaining distance in the blink of an eye. He landed in front of Danzaiver and raised the lightsaber for a finishing blow.

Despite the warnings flashing inside the Tactical Frame's screens, Sho thought, _Now! _He stood up and unleashed a gigantic sphere of crackling black energy toward Obi Wan while screaming "Lighting Strike!" The Jedi cried out; it was his turn to be unable to dodge in time or even parry the incoming assault.

The blast hit him full on sending millions of volts electricity through him. Obi Wan screamed out in pain as he was paralyzed momentarily. If it wasn't for the Force, he would have either been killed or paralyzed for _much _longer. Even still, his body was sluggish from pain and the lingering effects. The Force flowed through his limbs to shake off the remaining effects. He struck out with his lightsaber but his reactions were noticeably slower. Danzaiver took advantage, parried the strike and countered with a stab of his own.

Looking down, Obi Wan's eyes went wide in surprise as he saw the Danzai-blade impaled in his stomach. He looked up at his opponent momentarily and his body slumped to the ground.

Regret instantly gripped Danzaiver as he looked at his fallen foe. "No...I...I wanted to defeat him...not...kill...him." He muttered in gasps that felt like the fires of hell itself were burning in his chest. He dropped to a knee, unable to stand and using his right hand to keep himself from going completely prone.

"Danzaiver, I'm showing great stress and damage on the Tactical Frame! Are you hurt, are you injured? _Answer me!" _Ruri screamed on the commlink, hurting Sho's ears.

It took a few moments before he could answer Ruri back. The world swam from his dizziness and pain wracked his entire body. "No time for that Ruri, withdraw this one, now!" Indicating the fallen Jedi.

"But...but he tried to kill you!"

"He was only...doing his...job." He felt the Jedi's neck and to his relief felt a pulse, albeit a faint one. "I couldn't let him...take me in...but if his life can be saved...Ruri, do as I say..._now!" _

There was a flash of light as Obi Wan disappeared and was teleported to the Seingreed. "He's still alive, we'll patch him up right away with the Seingreed's medbay. Now its your turn!" Ruri said as she reset the teleporter. Just before she could activate it though, the Seingreed shook violently from some sort of impact.

"What was that?" Ruri screamed out.

"Multiple bogeys inbound!" Yuri replied, her voice frantic. They're firing at us! If we stay here we're sitting ducks, we'll be destroyed!" On the screen, they could see gigantic ships of a triangular configuration, firing red turbo-lasers at the Seingreed. The AGDS carrier's shields held up against the initial assault but were fading with each resulting impact.

"Ruri, Yuri...vacate now." Sho said, hearing the situation in his communicator.

"We can't leave you Sho!" Yuri exclaimed.

"If you stay, you'll be destroyed! Do as I say, get out of there!"

Both of the twins hesitated for a moment but only a moment; another impact from a turbo-laser hit the Seingreed. "He's right Yuri," Ruri said solemnly.

"B-but...Sho?" Yuri said with tears in her eyes.

"We'll do him no good if we're spacedust! Take the Seingreed out of here!" Ruri said with iron in her voice. _We'll be back for you Sho, I promise. _The Seingreed powered up her drive systems and flew out of Kamino's orbit with the 37th Republic Space Fleet's Star Destroyers in hot pursuit.

Danzaiver stayed there on the landing pad with the sheets of rain drenching the Tactical Frame. He hoped with the communication abruptly cutting off meant that the twins had escaped and not gotten blown to bits. All he could do is hope at that point.

"I knew I was right to follow the Jedi here." A voice said from behind him. Danzaiver got to his feet and whirled around to find a black-armored man, holding a wicked looking rifle. The helmet he had on was demonic looking; it looked like a monster from one of Sho's childhood nightmares.

"W-who...are you?" He exclaimed in shock.

"I'm Dalos Tervain and I'm the man who's going to get he five-hundred thousand credit bounty on your head." The grim looking man replied. "And I'll get it too. After all, do you really think you're in any condition to resist me?"

Danzaiver looked down at his smoking, damaged form for a moment and then looked up. "This is...only a minor handicap." He replied, his words sounding more confident than he was actually feeling. "Let...me...guess. You stayed in the shadows...watched us fight...until you were sure I...was...weakened?"

"Give the man a prize. A good thing I did too, I saw what you did back there. You're too powerful to give a chance to." Dalos cocked his rifle and pointed at Danzaiver. "Prepare to die."

**Next Week: **Sho's Tactical Frame had a tough time with Obi Wan's attacks. After being taken to the absolute limit, the bounty hunter, Dalos Tervain strikes from the shadows, taking advantage of an exhausted Danzaiver. Can Danzaiver triumph at diminished capacity or will this be his final stand? Tune in next week for Danzaiver, Episode 3: A Cruel Demonic Shadow Strikes. Entry of the Force sensitive Bounty Hunter, Dalos Tervain and Danzai Burst!


	7. Chapter 3:A Cruel Demonic Shadow Strikes

**Chapter 3: A Cruel Demonic Shadow Strikes**

Dalos Tervain studied his quarry with an evil smile under his lips; he wished he could take off the helmet to show him how evil the smile really was. But he was conducting business and he was always fully dressed when he conducted business. "I saw what you did back there. You're too powerful to give a chance to."

Before Dalos stood Danzaiver. The red-armored warrior stood on unsteady legs that even the driving rain couldn't disguise. Speaking of the armor, it was battered and dented; he'd just done battle with the Jedi Master, Obi Wan Kenobi and not only survived, but triumphed. That was an accomplishment in of itself but the battle had taken its toll on him. Even the helmet had dents in it and electronic eyes that usually glowed a bright, intense yellow now flickered. He held his side as if one rib or more was broken and the way the armored figure heaved, he had trouble breathing.

_Good, this is good. This makes my job _so much _easier, _The evil bounty hunter mused. Reaching out with the Force, he could sense his target's pain and anguish and let those negative feelings wash over him, giving him strength. He had learned a long time ago that the Dark Side was the most powerful side of the Force. Though he didn't have the patience to find a Sith Master or a Dark Jedi and learn at their feet, he taught himself some tricks from old tomes and other studies in his travels. His affinity for the Force and his tricks of the Dark Side had made him one of the foremost bounty hunters in the galaxy.

Cocking his rifle, he pointed it at Danzaiver. The smile on his lips grew ever wider as he leveled it at his target's head. "Prepare to die." He said. He knew enough to not savor his enemy's negative feelings any longer, lest he somehow gain an advantage. Instead, he squeezed the trigger.

A blast of super-heated plasma erupted from the barrel of Tervain's rifle, striking Danzaiver straight-on. Fortunately for the armored hero, he got the Danzai-blade up in defense position in time. The body tight barrier field absorbed most of the damage of the blast; it would have absorbed all of it but it had been weakened from his earlier battle with the Jedi. Indeed, the Tactical Frame was operating on half power and Sho Mikagami also known as Danzaiver was wounded and exhausted to boot.

The blast staggered him a few steps. The pain from the impact however, served to jolt Sho out of a state of semi-stupor and trigger his adrenaline. _You can't go out like this, Sho Mikagami! Don't stand there and die, _fight! He thought to himself.

Withdrawing his pistol, Vicetriver, he fired it at the bounty hunter. Reaching out with the Force, Tervain knew the attack was coming even before Danzaiver reached for the pistol. By the time he fired it, the bounty hunter was rolling across the rain slicked surface safely underneath the laser blasts. Dalos returned fire two more times, using the Force to guide his shots.

Both blasts found their mark, one hit Danzaiver in the right shoulder where the armored pauldron was missing. Sho screamed in pain as sparks flew from the impact; the blast sent him spinning like a drunken top. The second blast hit him dead center in the chest, knocking him off his feet. Again he shouted out in torment and he was knocked from his feet. Vicetriver flew from his hand and slid across the ground like its owner did.

"Imagine what this would be like if you were at full strength?" Tervain said as leveled the rifle at Danzaiver's prone form.

"Not...done...yet!" Danzaiver replied in defiance. He rolled to his feet, the pain making his head swim from the effort and dashed toward Tervain with his Danzai-blade pointing forward. Tervain somersaulted out of the way of the incoming attack. In mid-dodge, he released a length of durasteel cord which snaked around Danzaiver's passing ankle. Using his opponent's momentum and augmenting his strength with the fire of the Dark Side, he swung Danzaiver over his head and slammed him against the far wall of the Kamino Cloning Facility.

There was a loud crack as Tactical Frame and durasteel wall connected; Sho was sure which cracked first. He saw black spots swim in front of his eyes as he struggled to stay conscious. Slowly, he crawled to his feet which felt like a monumental task. The coppery taste of blood filled Sho's mouth inside the helmet and he had to lean against the wall to keep his balance.

Dalos was enjoying toying with Danzaiver, the Dark Side growing ever stronger with his opponent's anguish. The rush of power began to cloud his judgment, cutting off the common sense that was screaming at him to finish his opponent off. He battled the heady rush of power back and let the common sense speak loudly in his head.

Danzaiver saw that his opponent hesitated as if trying to figure out what to do. Then when he decided on a course of action, he raised his rifle. The distraction was the moment he needed to release the crackling obsidian energy sphere. "_Lighting Strike!" _Danzaiver shouted as he fired a weakened version of what he hit Obi Wan with earlier. Dalos' eyes went wide as he saw the blast coming toward him. Using a Force enhanced leap, he dodged out of the way of the sphere and it flew out over the sea, harmlessly.

With a break in the action, Danzaiver used the Tactical Frame's leaping ability and leaped onto a nearby gantry. Landing, he started to run. "In...no...shape to...fight. Gotta run!" He mumbled to himself as he half ran, half staggered along the gantry. The grated floor underneath him shook from blasts that Tervain was firing at him. The vibrations were so much that Danzaiver lost his balance and fell to the ground.

"Kriff!" Dalos Tervain snarled as he tried to pick Danzaiver off from distance. Even with the Force, the angle was too steep for his shots to accurately zero his target. "Looks like I'm gonna have to get up close and personal." He said. He used the Force to make several leaps onto the gantry; the rain slicked metal almost made him lose his balance but he managed to get up there safely.

He landed where he expected his wounded quarry would be but was shocked that he wasn't there. "What the..." he started to say when the Force hit him with a split-second premonition. He barely managed to step out of the way of the Danzai-Blade coming down onto his head. The energy blade bit into the gantry with a shower of sparks. Danzaiver stood in front of him and swung his energy sword again. Dalos managed to get his rifle between him and the blade; the Danzai-blade cut through the rifle easily leaving it cleaved, smoking ruin.

Reflexes augmented by the Force and years of training and experience, He grabbed for the blasters on his hips while leaping ten feet into the air and backward. In mid-air, he fired a volley of blasts, some guided by the Force, the rest of them purely random. Again, Danzaiver got up his barrier protecting him from the worst of the shots while leaping off the gantry.

The armored hero landed and went into a combat roll. The impact from the fall hurt him badly and his roll was sloppy, making him land on his face. He looked up to find Tervain coming down from the gantry and landing safely and gracefully, thanks to the Force protecting him. Turning around, he found Vicetriver laying three feet away from him. A surge of fresh adrenaline flowed through him and he grabbed his errant weapon.

Rolling onto his back, he fired at Dalos as the mercenary leapt down from the gantry. Pain, fatigue and a moving target threw his aim off and he missed every shot. The shooting did make Dalos seek cover which gave Danzaiver a chance to get to his feet and get moving, all the while shooting on the run. He managed to dive behind a wall just as Tervain returned fire, peppering the wall with blaster bolts.

Peeking his head and weapon from behind the wall, Danzaiver took a couple more pot shots at Tervain, both shots missing as the mercenary just managed to duck his head behind cover. Dalos smiled as he held his pistols at the ready. _He's certainly not making this boring, but its time to end it, _he thought. Pulling out a sonic grenade, he primed it and flung it. The trajectory was not toward Danzaiver but at the scaffolding above him.

High intensity sound waves bombarded the hero causing him to clutch at his helmet in pain. The sonics and the pain distracted him from the real threat above; the scaffolding broke loose from the intense sonic vibrations causing it to collapse. Danzaiver glanced up but could only do that; he was too late to dodge out of the way.

Tons of crashing steel fell onto him; he felt the impact through the Tactical Frame. If it wasn't for the armor, he would've been crushed instantly but even still the pain from the impact washed over him, causing him to scream in agony. With a groan, he tried to move but found he could not. "Tactical Frame...reroute power...now!" He shouted. The armor's servos screamed in protest as he pushed the wreckage off of him. He was free but he was spent from the effort, so spent that he could only climb to his knees and gasp for air.

Clapping his hands, Dalos Tervain casually approached the battered form of Danzaiver. "Bravo Danzaiver, bravo. I've never quite faced an opponent like you in my life. I suspect that even now, despite your pain and damage, you're thinking of some way to resist me." Even now as if to prove his point, Danzaiver struggled to stand up. He grinned as he reached out with the Force, focusing on his opponent's anguish. It was a little Dark Side trick he had picked up years ago, find the weakness in an opponent and amplify, magnify it and send it back against him. It was a trick that he'd used often and to great effect.

A scream like his soul was being torn from his body erupted from Danzaiver. He fell back to the ground writhing in torment. He had knew that he was severely injured but the pain was unlike anything he'd ever experienced before. His vision blurred and turned red around the edges. So intense was this feeling that even though he wanted to pass out because he couldn't take anymore, the pain wouldn't _let him. _

Sadistic laughing that started low at first and rose in pitch came from Tervain as he continued his advance toward his supine foe. "You're going to die screaming Danzaiver!" He mocked. His mind flashed back to when he first discovered his talent in the Force. His father, Vaim had been abusive to him and his mother, beating them for as long as he could remember. With each beating, a little bit of empathy had disappeared until soon, Tervain cared about nothing, nothing except killing Vaim.

It didn't even register on any level when Vaim had finally killed Dalos' mother in drunken rage when he was fourteen. But when the evil father turned his anger toward him, he unwittingly lashed out with the Force. His dark thoughts guided and shaped the Force, turning it into a crushing fist around Vaim's heart, squeezing the life out of it. Vaim died where he stood, his face frozen in a look of horror as his heart was crushed like a tiny insect.

At first Dalos didn't realize what happened but over time, he put it together as the Force slowly revealed itself to him. Little talents like giving him premonitions of danger allowing him to avoid it, sensing his enemies over great distances painted a clearer picture of what he could do and he learned to hone it. He had heard that the Jedi sought out Force sensitive children and took them to train them in the ways of the Force.

Dalos resented the Jedi, wondering why they never came to rescue him from Vaim. Such was his psychosis that he decided to use his talents as a mercenary, specifically to kill Jedi whenever possible and make a fair amount of money doing it. In fact, he took great pleasure in killing _anybody _who acted overly heroic. In way, it was revenge for the heroes failure to protect him from his abusive father. Over the years, he'd gotten _really _good at what he did.

Now his laughter had turned maniacal as he tortured Danzaiver. The screams of his opponent filled his ears like sweet music. He was surprised at the man's resiliency, past opponents had died long before now but Danzaiver still screamed. _Well that's good, all to enjoy the show even more. _He turned up the intensity with a smile.

_So much...pain! _Danzaiver's mind screamed. Through his hazy vision he saw his would-be killer standing over him, laughing. The look on his face filled Danzaiver with unreasoning fury, a fury that matched the pain he felt. _I will..._not _lose! For Yuri...and...Ruri, I cannot..._lose! Slowly, he began to climb to his feet, the effort making him feel like he was trying to lift a mountain.

"How...how are you doing this?" Tervain exclaimed in surprise.

"I...will...never...lose to...somebody like you!" Danzaiver replied through gritted teeth. His will battled back the effects of Tervain's power; his brain felt like it was on fire but his will was like a gigantic glacier. "Absolutely...positively...for the sake of my..._friends!" _He shouted the last part and Tervain's hold was broken over him.

Shocked, Dalos stood in place, staring at the hero with a dumbfounded expression. He could not believe it, nobody had _ever _broken his painful hold over them! So shocked he was, that he could not move. "H-how..._No!" _He screamed in unbridled rage.

"You failed villain," Danzaiver said, still on unsteady legs. He grabbed the Danzai-blade, igniting it. "You failed because you went up against the will of a true hero." His voice gathered more strength as his conviction bolstered him even further. "I could never lose to you because...The power of a supreme ruler destroys all evil! The ultimate hero, _Danzaiver!" _

All Tervain could do was stare on in shock as he staggered backward in fear. Yes, fear. The sensation was alien to him because it had been so long since he felt it. This being, this foe had despite all the odds and his best efforts to kill him and resisted his power, now stood before him defiant. Fear turned to rage as he reached for his pistols. "_I'll kill you!" _He snarled.

Already on the move, Danzaiver lashed out with the Danzai-blade, slashing him across his armor. The blow caused the mercenary to collapse to the ground. He saw that both of his pistols had been cleaved in two. He stood up and pulled out his vibro-blade; the blade like his armor had been made with cotorsis-weave, able to withstand the blows of a lightsaber. The blade had chalked up many Jedi kills over the years, what was an armored fool too full of himself?

Tervain charged with a scream. Gone was the smug cockiness that he'd been oozing with earlier. He failed to notice that in Danzaiver's other hand was a rectangular object which he slapped into the bottom of his energy sword. The blade grew larger and grew brighter in intensity.

The yellow lenses in Danzaiver's helmet glowed a bright yellow as he swung the sword. "_Danzai-burst!" _He screamed as he swung the sword, utilizing his ultimate finishing move. So powerful was the swing that it caused a ripple of energy to travel across the ground like a trail of fire. The blade sundered the armor, splitting it two as well as the man underneath it. The angry look never left Tervain's face as he fell to the ground.

Completely drained of power, Danzaiver fell to the ground as well; the Danzai-burst was the ultimate totality of his power. His last attack took what little remained of the Tactical Frame's power and focused it through the Danzai-blade. The Tactical Frame disappeared, unable to maintain its cohesion any longer. "And that's it...for...you." He said out of breath to his fallen foe. He slumped against a wall, trying to stay conscious. He sat there a few moments before he willed himself to get to his feet.

Stumbling to the prone body of the mercenary, he approached warily and wracked with pain. Though the Tactical Frame had protected him from death, he was severely injured. He felt like two or more ribs were broken and he had a severe concussion. Blood trickled from the side of his mouth as he walked. He wasn't sure if he had internal injuries as well but he wouldn't have doubted it. _Well at least the Tactical Frame will undergo its self-repair routines _he thought.

Looking up to the rainy sky, his thoughts drifted to his companions. Sho wondered if they were okay. "I've got to find them...I've got to get off...this planet!" He said, the effort making him clutch his right side with a wince.

He started to walk back toward the entrance of the cloning facility but thought against it. _The ships that assaulted the Seingreed may have been called from there _He surmised. _It seems like everything else is against me, why not the Kaminoans too? _He looked around, taking stock of where he was. Seeing nothing except the damage his battles with the mercenary and the Jedi had caused, he began to feel dejected. His eyes drifted to the corpse of the mercenary. "Wait a minute, how did he get here? Or for that matter, how did the bearded guy get here too? I'm sure they're not from here!" he said.

Sho stumbled around the landing pads for awhile until he came upon a ship on a landing pad on the far pad of the facility, opposite from where he fought his battles. Smiling, he staggered to it; he wondered which of his opponents this ship belonged to. He fumbled with the control panel, pressing random buttons trying to open the hatch of the ship.

It dimly occurred to Sho that the ship maybe booby-trapped but he didn't care. After a few more minutes of pressing random combinations of numbers, the hatch opened. He stepped back, startled at first but then he ran into the ship and the hatch closed behind him. The ship was fairly spacious on the inside as opposed to how it looked from the outside.

After stumbling around for a few moments, he found what looked to be the cockpit. There were two chairs like in a traditional cockpit but that's where the similarities ended between craft he was familiar with and this one's. The language on the control surfaces were also written in a language that he couldn't translate. He found this odd since the bounty hunter had spoke perfect English. _What a strange place _he mused.

His brain still ached as much as his body; his opponent had really did an number on him. It took him a full few minutes to realize that his translater had a visual capability. It hurt to even pull the device out of his pocket; the effort actually made him sweat. He fumbled with it for a few more minutes after that and finally got the effect he wanted. He had to go through each system individually and to Sho, the process seemed like it took hours though it only took about twenty minutes.

He finally figured out how to start up the ship. At first, the ship shimmied like it was going to fall apart as he operated the controls. Even if he was at full strength, he suspected he would've still made a mess of the take off. In fact, as the ship slowly lifted off the flight deck, he accidentally ran into a pylon. Fortunately he was going so slow that no serious damage was done...to the ship at least. The pylon snapped off of its base and fell into the ocean. _I guess the Kaminoans won't be inviting me back, _he thought with a wince of embarrassment.

The ship broke atmosphere after a few moments and he was in the familiar blackness of space. He found the ship's scanners which he programmed; despite the language, it was fairly simple to program them to look for the Seingreed since he knew what it's hyperspace signature looked like. He smiled as he discovered that the faint traces of Seingreed's exhaust trail indicated that they at least activated the hyperdrive. _That means that they possibly survived the attack. At least there's a chance! _Setting a course, he engaged the ship's hyperdrive. _Now let's see if this bucket of bolts has a medbay._

**Next Week: **Still recovering his fierce battles, Sho searches for his companions in the Seingreed. On the way, he encounters Obi Wan Kenobi's partner, Anakin Skywalker. Anakin who's power eclipses Obi Wan and is enraged and seeking justice for his fallen friend, attacks. Can Danzaiver survive the fierceness of the Jedi in black or does his battle end here? Next week's feature is Danzaiver, Episode 4: The Rage of the Chosen One, Entry of the Jedi in Black, Anakin Skywalker, and Danzai Burst!


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